Folding umbrella



United States Patent [72] Inventor Masaaki Hirai saka,Japan [21] Appl. No. 725,368 [22] Filed April 30, I968 [45] Patented Sept. 29, I970 [73] Assignee Asahi Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Asahi Kogyo (30., Ltd.) Jotu-ku, Osaka, Japan a corporation of Japan [32] Priority June 30, 1967 [33] Japan [31 42/56,755 (utility model) [54] FOLDING UMBRELLA 4 Claims, Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 135/26 [51] lnt.Cl ..A45b 19/04,

A45b 19/06 Field ofSearch /25, 26, l 27, 46T, 32

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,299,877 4/] 9 l 9 Verdugo 135/26 2,700,39! 1/1955 Haupt 135/26 2,850,028 9/l 958 Trippe l35/26 6/1964 Weber ABSTRACT: A folding umbrella comprising an extendable shaft, including a first wheel mounted at the upper end of the shaft with a plurality of mother ribs pivotally mounted at one end about the wheel, a second wheel slidably mounted on said shaft with a plurality of supporting ribs mounted at first ends thereof about said second wheel, a plurality of sliders each being pivotally mounted at the free end of a respective one of the supporting ribs, each slider engaging a respective mother rib for slidable movement therealong, sliding ribs pivotally connectedat first ends to the sliders and extending outwardly therefrom in parallel relation to the mother ribs for slidable movement with respect thereto, and pushing ribs connected at one end to a third wheel slidably mounted on the shaft between the first and second wheels, with the other ends of the pushing ribs being pivotally connected to respective ones of the supporting ribs v When in a closed position, a first predetermined distance between the sliders and the first or upper wheel and a second, smaller predetermined distance between the first and third wheels is provided. These distances, in con junction with restraining means provided on the mother ribs adjacent respective sliders, serve to curtail temporarily upward movement of the sliders toward the first or upper wheel, making the umbrella easy to open.

. ,5 Patented Sept. 29 1970 3 30 865 ,5 Patented Sept. 29, 1970 3 30 865 Sheet g r 3 flew .Maaai l/zwab FOLDING UMBRELLA BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvement in a folding type umbrella.

There is known in the prior art a type of folding umbrella which has a shaft capable of being extended and shortened, and including an upper wheel fastened to the upper end of the shaft, mother ribs arranged around said upper wheel and capable of being swung up and down around said wheel, sliding ribs connected to said mother ribs and capable of being slid along said mother ribs, supporting ribs first ends of which are supported swingably to a lower wheel, slidably mounted on the shaft and having the other ends pivotally mounted on sliders fixed to the upper ends of said sliding ribs, a middle wheel, slidably mounted on the shaft between the upper and lower wheel, and pushing ribs, first ends of which are connected swingably to the middle wheel and the other ends of which are connected swingably to the middle portions of said supporting ribs. When one opens the aforementioned type of umbrella, the shaft is extended and the lower wheel is pushed upwardly by hand. In doing so, the mother ribs are rotated outwardly and upwardly by the movement of the pushing ribs and the supporting ribs. The sliding ribs are slid outwardly on the mother ribs by the movement of the slider. Thus, all of the ribs are extended and the umbrella is opened.

There are in the prior art two kinds of folding umbrellas of the above-described type. In a first one of these types the middle wheel is in contact with the lower surface of the upper wheel when the umbrella is folded. This kind of folding umbrella, however, is difficult to open, because the mother ribs rotate outwardly and upwardly only by extending the shaft and pushing the lower wheel upwardly because of the pushing I force to the lower wheel being applied to the mother ribs in a direction parallel to the shaft. The other kind of folding umbrella is designed such that when opening occurs, both the sliders and middle wheel are moved upwardly by pushing the upper wheel upwardly. This kind of umbrella is also difficult to open because the middle wheel contacts the lower surface of the upper wheel when the lower wheel is pushed upwardly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an umbrella similar to the above-described type which is relatively easy to open and avoids the disadvantages of prior art folding umbrellas.

A folding umbrella according to the present invention is so constructed as to include a first predetermined spacing or distance (L,, FIG. 1) between the supported position of the supporting ribs to the sliders and swingably arranged position of the mother ribs to the upper wheel, and also to include a second predetermined spacing or distance (L between the upper wheel and the middle wheel when the umbrella is folded. This is accomplished by controlling the lengths of the supporting ribs and pushing ribs. The mother ribs and sliders are provided with restraining means which restrain the movement of the sliders toward the upper wheel. When opening the umbrella, one extends the shaft and pushes the lower wheel upwardly by hand. In this case, only the middle wheel is moved upwardly until it contacts the lower surface of the upper wheel. The supporting ribs are swung outwardly by the pushing ribs and the mother ribs are pushed upwardly by the supporting ribs. Thus, the mother ribs are swung upwardly and outwardly with case and the umbrella is opened without difficulty.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more readily apparent as the specification is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a front elevational view of the folding umbrella according to the invention shown in a folded state with the cloth thereof removed;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the folding umbrella of FIG. 1 shown in an open state;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the restraining means of the umbrella shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of another embodiment of the restraining means according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of still another embodiment of a restraining means according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views thereof, there is shown a first embodiment of the present in vention in FIGS. l3. Upper wheel 2 of the umbrella is fastened to the upper end of shaft 1 which is able to be extended and shortened. Mother ribs 3 (only one of which is shown in the FIGS.) are arranged around said upper wheel 2 and are able to be swung about point A where they are pivotally connected. Sliding rib 4 slidably engages the mother rib 3. Lower wheel 5 is slidably mounted to the shaft 1. One end of a supporting rib6 is swingably supported and pivotally connected to the lower wheel 5 at position B and the other end is pivotally mounted to slider 7 at the point or position C. Slider 7 is mounted to the upper end of the sliding rib 4. Middle wheel 8 is slidably mounted to the shaft I between the upperlwheel 2 and the lower wheel 5. One end of pushing rib 9 is swingably connected to the middle wheel 8 at the position D, and the other end of the rib 9 is connected to supporting rib 6 at theposition E near the center thereof.

The lengths of supporting rib 6 and pushing rib 9 are so controlled as to provide a first predetermined distance L, between the positions A and C, and to provide a second predetermined distance L, between the upper wheel 2 and the middle wheel 8 when the umbrella is in a closed state, as shown in FIG. 1. Mother rib 3 and the slider 7 are provided with restraining means 10 located at the distance L, from position A when the umbrella is in a closed state, to restrain the movement of slider 7 toward the upper wheel 2. The means 10, as shown in FIG. 3, comprise a projection 11 of the mother rib 3 and a shoulder 12 of the sliding rib 4. The shoulder 12 is temporarily restrained by the projection 11, and thus the movement of slider 7 toward the upper wheel 2 is prevented temporarily.

When one wants to bring the umbrella from a closed state, as shown in FIG. 1, to an open state, as shown in FIG. 2, he first extends the shaft I, and then pushes the lower wheel 5 upwardly. Initially, just prior to opening, the various members 3, 4, 6 and 9 assume positions substantially as illustrated in FIG. 1. Upon upward movement of wheel 5, sliders 7 may move along the mother ribs 3 to position C while the middle wheel 8 moves upwardly along shaft 1 to position D, Le. spaced a distance L, and L respectively, from wheel 2. In such case, restraining means It) prevents the further upward movement of slider 7. Only the middle wheel 8 is moved upwardly by the distance L; to come into contact with the lower surface of the upper wheel 2, upon continued upward movement of the lower wheel 5. During this upward movement of the middle wheel 8 supporting rib 6 is pivoted or swung outwardly about point B by pushing rib 9, as shown in FIG. 1 by the imaginary lines. As is known in the art, this pivoting or outward swinging, will result, due to the play-in in the pivotal connections between the various elements, as well as the tendency of the mother ribs 3 to spread somewhat in the closed condition. After the outward swing of supporting rib 6, pushing force to the lower wheel 5 is applied to slider 7 through supporting rib 6 and the component of the force pushes the mother rib 3 upopening of the umbrella is completed, as shown in FIG. 2. The umbrella is closed in a manner reverse from the above.

FIG. 4 discloses another embodiment or form of restraining means, designated 10', which may be used in conjunction with the umbrella construction of FIGS. 1 and 2 in place of the restraining means 10 illustrated in FIG. 3. In this regard, the restraining means 10' functions in the same manner as restraining means 10, previously discussed. More specifically, in this embodiment the mother rib 3 is provided with a stopper 14 located a distance L along said rib 3 from position A, in the closed condition. During opening of the umbrella, the sliders 7 of the mother ribs 3 may move upwardly along said ribs, thus precluding initial spreading of the mother ribs. When this happens, the sliders 7 will engage the stoppers 14 to preclude positively further movement thereof toward the upper wheel 2. Accordingly, from this point the opening operation of an umbrella employing the restraining means 10 is identical to that as described with regard to FIGS. l3.

FIG. discloses still another type of restraining means, designated generally which may be utilized in place of either the restraining means 10 or 10, as discussed hereinbefore. The restraining means l0 is comprised of an inwardly bent portion formed on the mother rib 3 at a predetermined distance from the upper wheel 2. Upon movement of the sliders 7 along the mother rib 3, which may occur during opening of the umbrella, the inwardly bent portion 15 will be received within the slider 7, but it will engage against the shoulder 12 to prevent further movement of said slider toward the upper wheel 2. The location of the inwardly bent portion 15 is selected such that upon engagement thereof with shoulder 12, the slider 7 assumes the spacing L as previously discussed. Again, as was the case with regard to the restraining means 10', the operation of an umbrella according to the present invention and utilizing restraining means 10''. is substantially identical to that as discussed with regard to FIGS. l3.

There have been shown herein embodiments of a folding umbrella according to the invention having a shaft with two slidable portions, one of which can be inserted into the other. However, a shaft of an umbrella embodiment may be provided with more than two or three slidable portions if desired and still fall within the scope of the present invention.

A folding umbrella according to the invention, as well as providing ease in opening, may be produced relatively inexpensively because ofits simple construction.

Having now described the invention and having exemplified the manner in which it can be carried into practice, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that innumerable variations, applications, modifications and extensions of the basic principles involved may be made without departing from its scope. The invention is to be limited, therefore, only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An umbrella comprising: a shaft; an upper wheel fastened to the upper end of said shaft; a plurality of mother ribs arranged about and pivotally connected at one end thereof to said upper wheel; a plurality of sliding ribs each engaging one of said mother ribs and adapted to be slidable along said mother rib; a lower wheel slidably mounted on said shaft; supporting ribs having first ends pivotally mounted on said lower wheel; a plurality of sliders one of which is slidably carried by each said mother rib, said sliders having the other ends of said supporting ribs and the first ends of said sliding ribs pivotally connected thereto; a middle wheel slidably mounted on said shaft between said upper and lower wheels; and pushing ribs having first ends pivotally connected to said middle wheel, the other ends thereof being pivotally connected to said supporting ribs between the ends thereof; the improvement comprising, restraining means on said mother rib adjacent said upper wheel to provide a predetermined minimum spacing along said mother rib between said sliders and said upper wheel, such that movement of said sliders toward said upper wheel is precluded, and said supporting ribs and pushing ribs being of selected lengths such t at a predetermined spacing along said shaft between said upper wheel and said middle wheel is assured when the umbrella is in a closed position and precluding of movement of said sliders toward the upper wheel is attained.

2. An umbrella as defined in claim I, wherein said restraining means include a projection on each said mother rib, and a shoulder on,each said sliding rib, such that upon engagement thereof said sliders are positively restrained from upward movement along their respective mother ribs toward the upper wheel.

3. An umbrella as defined in claim 1 wherein said restraining means include stoppers mounted on each said mother rib, said stoppers being engaged by said sliders to effect the preclusion of upward movement thereof.

4. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein said restraining means include inwardly bent portions formed at selected locations on each said mother rib, and a shoulder portion defined by each sliding rib, such that upon engagement thereof said preclusion of movement of the sliders toward the upper wheel is attained. 

